Curved foldable closure



Jan. 25, 949.

vE. R. wATKlNs CURVED FOLDABLE CLOSURE Filed July 19, 1946 INVENTOR. ZRwfsr K WrAm/s v /9 rok/V526,

Patented Jan. 25, 1949 'UNITED STATES PATENT rorFirE y.2,fli)',157

` CURVED jFOLDABLE .CLQSURE @Ernest R.*i/Vatkins, Anderson, indu. assignor', by

mesne assignments, to New Castle liroduts,

. l flnct'iNerv' @asile Ind.,Y a lcon@mation Applicationuly, 19, 1946, Serial No. 684,891

Claims. (CL 160-84) f1 This Linvention relates toa foldable Aclosure for door and partition use.

The 'chief object of this-invention is to -provide a closuregwhich is capable of the aforesaid use and whichA furthermore 'can '-bearranged in arcuate for-rn, as distinguished from'coplanar form.

The chief feature rrfthe presentdnvention rresides in thesimplicity 'of construction, vto-Wit, the small numberof Jparts', and-these so arranged and associated'together that VAthe closure, when extended, has 'in' general a 'curved outline in plan. Other objectsi'ande-ieatiires of `the yinvention will be set 'forth more fully hereinafter.

'The ful-l nature of the-invention will 4be understood from the accompanying drawings and the an intermediate'hinge structure Vor assembly in disassembledrelation.

track and inigeneral thisk track is substantially tubular Withga "central zlovvlerrslot coextensive therewith.

"Rollable on this "jtrack is a forward trolley structure indicated'jgenerally bythe numeral Il 4and 1 -having s pacedwheels It* and suitably conv'of faclosure,V thellower `portion thereof and the extreme 'endsfthereoffas Well as one intermediate portion is illustrated, and `more "particularly VVin `Fig. 2.

lBetvveenethe lminera-nd "lowervfhinge series, designated generally fby* the *lettersr A and B, there :may -be included any'lvadditional series.

"Between thelead post-connected sections of '.series Af liandfB andi-'between therrear :post con- -nected sections ofthe series A and B therefmay .be vprovided any suitable number .of 'hinged .plate structureaeto., .as may :be .desired or required so :that when the ,closure is extended into :closing position, the opening to ibe kclosedthereby or the ,area to be Walled oliis vsoclosed off.

The foregoing invention is peculiarly applicable to sor-.called circular or semi-circular bars Where.- .in it is required that the `room in y.which meals vare served be separated fromtlie bar properv at such intervals or periods Adur-ing which it is illegal to dispense intoxicating zliquors, .thepurpose of the yclosure being to Wall yoff the bar, as stated, and thus leave the remaining area of 'the Vroom available for restaurant or dancing purposes, vand ,particularly Where ,the V-bar is yof :the type previously mentioned.

Herein the A `series .of vtheihinge plates com,- prises two so-called `halfrlength .end :platesfZ and 2l. IThese have, adjacent .the lead :postali angularly ,disposed Aportion v20a .and 2 la, and the adjacent edges are .provlded'with alignedfcurled portions 22 spaced from Veach yother by means vof the notches 23.

The other -half .plate is 'provided'v/ith corresponding curled 4portions `and .correspondingly positioned Ynotches sothatthe curled portionsf-22 of both :half thinge plates may be intertted With respectiveno-tches ofthe otherplate and a oommon. pivot member 2t carried by the-bracket Apivotallyconnects the adjacent-ends of these half hinge :plates together.

The opposite end of; each` half t'hinge p7-ate 2l) and 2l is provided with curled tongue-portions V26 and adjacent notchedgportions 2l. yA yfull length hinge plate 28,-such as shown in -the ylovver .part of Fig. 3, iscon-nected at oneend to the `other end of the half-hinge plate 2| by means of the pivot member 29. Y

A half-hinge plate gaysee `the upperleft hand portion of Fg. 3 and also the uprperrleft hand portion of F.ig. lis' pivotallygconnectedby the A-pivot member 3l to -the-half'ehinge endxplate 2 0.

Associated with 4the `half-hinge plate .30 and the full hinge platel n2 8 is vanother half-'hirlge plate t2. The 'twoare Ipivotally associated to.- getlier and with the full hineeplate .2 8 @by the central nirtle or pivot structure 13x13.

It will be observed kthat lthe central k portion of the hinge plate 28 includes a vbiasednortion.28a and that the opposite endsterminate in, alter.- nate notches andcurled .tongue .portinatagand 34h. .reepeotively vNotehes 3fm` vare at Tdiaaonally onnositecornei's yand tongues Mbare at op.- posite ydiagonallyopposite corners.

With respect to the plate 30, it also is provided with alternate notches 35 and curled tongue portions 36. Similarly plate 32 is provided with alternate notches 31 and tongue portions 38, and the remote ends thereof, see Fig. 3, include tongues at diagonally opposite corners of the pivotally connected half hinges 3i] and 32 and notches at the other diagonally opposite corners.

Herein hinge plate 28 includes a longitudinally directed central notch 39 of considerable length and leading from one edge thereof in the central portion. 28a. A pair of slits 40, see the lower half of Fig. 3, form an upper strip 4I, a, lower strip 42 and an intermediate strip 43.

Strips 4| and 42 are similarly directed, that is, partially bowed, and strip 43 is similarly but oppositely bowed to form a bearing for the pintle 33.

Hinge plate 30 includes the notch 44, the curled tongue 45 and the elongated notch 46 in the olset or biased end portion 30a. The half hinge plate 32 also includes in its offset or biased portion 32a a pair of curled tongues 41, a notch 48 and an elongated notch 49.

It will be observed that the notches and tongues are of progressive offset character and intert so that the two half-hinge plates can be pivotally connected together by means of the pintle 33 and provide an elongated notch 46-49 to accommodate the pintle supporting portions 4l, 42 and 43 of the full hinge plate 28, the notch 39 thereof accommodating the aforesaid sequentially arranged tongues 45 and 41 of the half hinge plates.

The pintle member 33 is what might be termed a central pintle member. A similar full hinge plate 28 is connected at one end to the more remote end of the previously mentioned hinge plate 28, and a half hinge plate 30 is connected to the remote end of the half hinge plate 32, such connections being effected by the pivotal members 50 and 5|, respectively.

Any one of the central pivot members 33 may carry the intermediate trolley l5l6 aforesaid. The rear lead post I 'l is similarly connected to half hinge plates 52 and 53 as at 54, and the remote ends of said half hinge plates are connected to a full hinge plate 28 and a half hinge plate, such as 32.

It will be obvious from the foregoing therefor that each series comprises a sequentially connected number of full hinge plates, and connected to the intermediate portion of each hinge plate is a half hinge plate, and the same are connected together as illustrated in Fig. 3, and that the series A aforesaid terminates in half hinge plates 20 and 2l at one end and 52 and 53 at the opposite end.

By reason of this construction it will be noted that in extension and collapse the closure con forms generally to the curvature of the track I0, this being permitted by the inclusion of half hinge plates as a sequentiall series, and that vthese half hinge plates as a sequential series cross, as it were, the sequential series of full hinge plates, the hinges having a common depth or height, same being permitted by reason of the slots or notches 46, 49 and 39.

With reference to series B it will be observed that the central pivots 33 need not extend from one series to the other although if desired they may do so. Preferably, however, each of the lateral pivots, such as indicated at 29, 3l, 53 and 5l, are coextensive with the height of the closure so that the covering material omitted herefrom and not illustrated herein, but which is suitably attached thereto by means of fixtures associated with the aperture 60, for example, will conform to and fold, as determined by the closure, in its movement from extended to closed position, and vice versa.

The lower series B is substantially identical to the upper series A in that the full length hinges are in vertical registration and the several half length hinges are in vertical registration. However, as shown in Fig. 2, the tongue and notch arrangements may be reversed, that is, as if the structure were inverted and turned it would be identical.

Otherwise, the construction of the lower series conforms to that of the upper series and any intermediate series may rconform to either series A or B, previously described.

It would appear that the primary function of the full lengthhinge is to insure uniformity of extension and contraction in the closure so that the folds will be uniformly formed and maintained, which otherwise would not be the case if all of the hinge units were of half length character.

It will be obvious, of course, that if all of the intermediate hinging were of full length hinges and of intersecting character, the foldable closure would not assume a curvilinear extension or contraction but, of necessity, would be confined to coplanar movement, and the utilization of intermediate hinges of intersecting character and of full length is specifically disclaimed herefrom for that reason.

The degree of extension can be limited by the cooperation of the half hinge portions at one or both ends of the closure, as set forth broadly in copending application Serial No. 554,873, led September 20, 1944.

While the curvature of the track l0, as represented by the curvature of the foldable closure in extended relation, see Fig. 1, is of appreciable magnitude, it is to be understood that foldable closures have been applied to curved tracks where the radius of curvature has been of three feet or greater. Where the radius of curvature is below three feet other difficulties are encountered.

It furthermore is to be observed that for certain types of closures, such as those associated and used in lieu of a communion rail structure, but a single crossed series of the aforesaid hinge arrangement would be required since the height of such closure or curtain would not be very great.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in great detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and notvrestrictive in character.

The several modifications described herein as well as others which will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art, all are considered to be within the vbroad scope of the in vention, reference being had to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. An extensible and collapsible closure structure movable arcuately comprising in combination two sequentially connected series of hinge plate elements, the two series crossing each other at regular intervals, one series including `half length elements at theends and a plurality of full length elements therebetween and the other l series comprising substantially all half .length elements, the series where crossing having common pivotal connection.

2. A structure as defined by claim 1 Wherein the two series Iare of the same width. and where crossing have staggered notches, the structure having the same Width as a series and the two series being intertted one with the other at the staggered notches.

3. In a foldable and extensible closure for asu sociation with curved track the combination of a lead post, a lead post connected trolley engageable with the track and guided thereby, at least one additional trolley engageable with the track and guided thereby, and hinge plate structure means including two sequentially connected series of hinge plate elements, the series crossing each other at regular intervals, one series including a pair of half length elements at the ends and a plurality of full length elements therebetween, the other series comprising substantially al1 half length elements, the two series where transversely disposed crossing having a common pivotal airis, and pintle means coincident with one of said common axes and operatively connected to the second REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,220,939 McGuire Nov. 12, 1940 2,373,146 Shearer Apr. 10, 1945 

